San Diego Food System Alliance

The Alliance is a multi-sector coalition with a mission to develop and maintain an equitable, healthyand sustainable food system for the benefit of all people in San Diego County.

Our food system is broken.

Half a million San Diegans do not have adequate healthy food to eat due to food prices and insufficient access in communities.

Rates of childhood obesity (31% for ninth graders) and adult diabetes (6.3%) in San Diego fall far short of national/ county targets.

Farmland in San Diego County has decreased 43% from 1987 to 2007 due to the rising cost of water and development pressure. On the other hand, San Diego has the largest number of certified organic producers of any county.

Commercial ocean fish landings in San Diego declined 15% between 2000 and 2008. The number of water bodies in the region identified as having some level of pollution more than doubled between 2006 and 2008.

In the US, forty-percent of food produced ends up in landfill causing methane gases 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a contributor to climate change.

Jobs within food service and drinking establishments earn the lowest annual wages of all sectors ($17,400/year in 2009)

Source: Assessing the San Diego County Food System: Indicators for a More Food Secure Future (2010) report available here

We believe it takes collaboration, knowledge, and public policy change to catalyze large scale changes to our community food system.